Men’s and Women’s Goalball Rosters Set for 2006 IBSA World Goalball Championships

With the 2006 World Goalball Championships just six weeks away, the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes is proud to announce the Men’s and Women’s National Goalball teams sponsored by the National Industries for the Blind (NIB), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying employment opportunities for people who are blind, that will represent the USA in Spartanburg, S.C, June 26 – July 2.

Five members of the 2004 U.S. Paralympic Men’s Goalball Team will take on the world’s best in Spartanburg, while four players from the 2004 women’s team that went to Athens will be a part of the host country’s women’s squad. The rosters for the 2006 USABA National Goalball Teams are:

Men
Chris Dodds – Logan, Utah
Tyler Merren – Kalamazoo, Mich.
Donte Mickens – Tallahassee, Fla.
John Mulhern – Lebanan, Pa.
Edward Munro – St. Augustine, Fla.
Daryl Walker – Jacksonville, Fla.

Women
Jennifer Armbruster – Colorado Springs, Colo
Lisa Banta – Tucson, Ariz.
Jaclyn Barnes – Wadsworth, Ill.
Stacie Jenkins – St. Augustine, Fla.
Asya Miller – Battle Creek, Mich.
Robin Theryoung – Colorado Springs, Colo.

Both teams will be busy before the event in Spartanburg. The men’s team will compete at the Slovenia International Goalball Tournament, May 25-28 in Isola, Slovenia, while the women will be in Malmo, Sweden, for the Malmo International Invitational May 28-29. After returning to the U.S., the players will join up with their club teams and go to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the 2006 USABA Goalball National Championships, June 8-10. Two Michigan teams, the Wrecking Crew (men) and the Chaos (women), will look to defend their titles.

Goalball is a Paralympic sport played by athletes who are blind and visually impaired. Developed after WWII as a way to keep blinded veterans physically active, it has become the premier team sport for athletes who are blind and visually impaired.  Played competitively by men and women, it is a very fast paced, physically challenging, strategic and exciting game.

The United States Association of Blind Athletes, a member organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is a non-profit organization that provides training for blind and visually impaired athletes for competition in nine sports. USABA members range from blind children developing sports skills to elite athletes who train for competitions such as the Paralympic Games, which continually draws more than 4,000 disabled athletes.